Some students find it difficult to reach graduation in a regular secondary school setting, but may be successful in an alternative setting. Causes of not graduating could include high absenteeism and behavior problems, which may result in dropping out. This study sought student perceptions of an alternative program in a public school district in the state of Mississippi. The participants were 10 students and their parents, 10 teachers, and the administrator. Data included interviews and school documents, and were analyzed using the constant comparative method. This research found that some of the students were enthused upon receiving alternative placement. Students liked the curriculum tailored to their individual needs, more one-on-one time with the teacher, and the opportunity to focus on the changes that they needed to make to improve their educational opportunities. Some parents expressed their disappointment in their child’s placement; however, there were some parents who prefer the alternative school over regular school. The parents who were disappointed thought it to be a place where they put bad kids and where the teachers were not good teachers. The parents who preferred it liked the smaller teacher-student ratio and believed that alternative teachers were more supportive and kind. The teachers expressed the alternative school does not get the same attention as other district schools and is seen as a dumping ground for both teachers and students. Recommendations to the district include: evaluate the criteria for placing students in the alternative school, increase communication between the alternative and the regular school, provide a specialist to help focus on student learning styles, provide a full-time counselor to help students deal with the issues contributing to their lack of success in the regular school, and improve the physical setting for the alternative school. Further research is needed in the district: to determine what could be improved in the alternative academic program; to determine whether the alternative school curriculum is meeting state standards; and to examine the acceptance of students and faculty in the alternative program by district students and personnel.

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand teachers’ perceptions of dropout prevention strategies used in one alternative school and describe how the teachers perceived the dropout prevention strategies used to decrease the dropout rates and increase the graduation rates of alternative school students. The study examined the primary research question: How are dropout prevention strategies used in this alternative school? The National Dropout Prevention Strategies for Alternative Schools were used to frame this research. The strategies were grouped in three areas: building student skills, promoting teacher quality, and promoting a positive school culture and climate. The relevant data regarding the case of this alternative school were collected using an alternative school teacher interview protocol, demographic survey, and the researcher’s field notes. Support data included existing state, district, and school data files. The results of the research study showed that teachers’ perspectives of the National Dropout Prevention Center’s (NDPC’s) most effective strategies for alternative school to decrease dropout and increase graduation rates were present in varying degrees of implementation. The teachers’ responses indicated the strongest area of implementation was in positive school culture and climate. Teachers’ responses also indicated that specialized staff development was limited.

Research has demonstrated that many children and adolescents exhibiting behavior problems also evidence serious reading problems as well as a low self-efficacy (i.e., belief in their ability) toward reading. The consequences of these problems on both the student (e.g., dropping out of school) and society as a whole (e.g., cost to taxpayers) are serious and, in most cases, preventable. In order to prevent students from dropping out of school and to empower teachers with a method for removing disruptive students from the classroom, many states have implemented alternative education programs. The purpose of this study was to implement an effective reading intervention in a disciplinary alternative school where students were assigned from 20-40 days for infractions such as fighting, threatening others, and excessive office referrals. The design consisted of a series of 26 single-case AB studies. Subjects were ages 12-16 in a mid-sized city in Central Texas. There were 19 males and 7 females. Subjects were mostly of African American and Hispanic backgrounds, and the majority received some form of special education services. Data were analyzed using visual and statistical single case model techniques. Results suggest that an intensive oral reading fluency program can positively impact the oral reading fluency, accuracy, comprehension, self-efficacy toward reading, and social comparison with regard to the reading ability of students placed in a disciplinary alternative education program on a short-term basis.

Research has demonstrated that many children and adolescents exhibiting behavior problems also evidence serious reading problems as well as a low self-efficacy (i.e., belief in their ability) toward reading. The consequences of these problems on both the student (e.g., dropping out of school) and society as a whole (e.g., cost to taxpayers) are serious and, in most cases, preventable. In order to prevent students from dropping out of school and to empower teachers with a method for removing disruptive students from the classroom, many states have implemented alternative education programs. The purpose of this study was to implement an effective reading intervention in a disciplinary alternative school where students were assigned from 20-40 days for infractions such as fighting, threatening others, and excessive office referrals. The design consisted of a series of 26 single-case AB studies. Subjects were ages 12-16 in a mid-sized city in Central Texas. There were 19 males and 7 females. Subjects were mostly of African American and Hispanic backgrounds, and the majority received some form of special education services. Data were analyzed using visual and statistical single case model techniques. Results suggest that an intensive oral reading fluency program can positively impact the oral reading fluency, accuracy, comprehension, self-efficacy toward reading, and social comparison with regard to the reading ability of students placed in a disciplinary alternative education program on a short-term basis.

Researchers have identified numerous risk and protective factors that might provide insight into the academic difficulties and success that Hispanic adolescents experience. Maladjusted outcomes cannot be attributed to a single risk factor; risk factors do not act in isolation and often have complex relationships with other risk factors. This study uses an ecological risk factor model that suggests that there are multiple risk factors related to adolescent being placed in an alternative education setting and that these risk factors exist at six levels: community-based factors, school-based factors, peer-based factors, family-based factors, child's perception factors, and acculturation-based factors. The purpose of this study is to examine differences in the protective and risk factors in the area of family, community, school, peers, child?s perception, and acculturation levels between Hispanic males who have been placed in DAEP (Disciplinary Alternative Education Placement) and their same aged Hispanic male peers who have not been previously placed in the DAEP. The sample for this study (N=119) was collected from a large urban school district in Texas. The participants were seventh and eighth graders between the ages of 12 and 16 years of age. The non-DAEP group was comprised of a majority of 7th grade students (71.7%), while the DAEP group had a larger number of 8th grade students (62.7%). This study addressed four research questions. The first question investigated if there was a difference between the two groups when the ecological levels where combined to create a cumulative risk score. The non-DAEP group had significantly lower cumulative risk scores than the DAEP. The second research question investigated if there was a difference in each cumulative risk index (i.e., family, school, peers, community, child?s perception, and acculturation) between the two groups. There was no significant difference found between the non-DAEP and DAEP group for family-based risk scores or the child's perception risk scores; however, a significant difference was found between the two groups on the peer-based, community-based, acculturation-based, and school-based factors. The third question examined the unique contribution school, peers, community, family, and acculturation makes in the prediction of the child?s perception factor for Hispanic males. A hierarchical multiple regression suggested only the community-based, family-based, and acculturation-based variables made a significant contribution to the child's perception factor. The fourth question examined if the child's perception factor mediated the relationship between placement in the DAEP and the family-based, community-based, peer-based, school-based, and acculturation-based factors. The effects of the five variables on group placement and child's perception factors were assessed through the use of structural equation modeling using the program AMOS. (Analysis of Movement Structures; See Figure 2).

The main goal of this research is to understand the effects of life education courses on the life attitudes of the students in the alternative school via deep interview and implementing the purpose in the life attitudes test. This research examines the same group before and after teaching, and focuses on 47 students in the southern alternative school to implement the 4-unit, 12 lessons life education courses. In the part of quantitative research, survey of the life attitudes of the students in the life attitudes test are used as the commenting materials. The information received is allotted and calculated according to the frequency and statistically analyzed according to paired t test. In the part of qualitative research, the researcher determined to select 6 students as the interviewees, and conduct the interviews of semi-structure to proceed deep interviews with the assistance of ¡§word-for-word interview draft¡¨, ¡§interview analysis records¡¨, ¡§activity sheets¡¨, and the ¡§feedback sheets of the whole courses¡¨ to comment on the effects of the life education courses on the life attitudes of alternative school students. The outcomes of the research are as follows: 1. The life attitudes of the students in the alternative school are measured that tends to be medium, and forward. 2. The life education to the alternative school students ¡§the death attitudes¡¨ the part has in the life attitudes meter forward affects immediate effects, and continuous effects sustainable all around in four weeks ago. There is the interview analysis result's change : to change of the death subject view ¡] avoidance, traditional taboo ¡÷ to confront, attempt to forget¡^, change to self-inflicted injury, the suicide attitudes¡]to attempt, commits suicide ¡÷ no more, try hard for the goal¡^. 3. Although the life education does not have the immediate effects on the ¡§love and caring¡¨ of the chart of the life attitudes of the students in the alternative school, it has the delayed effects: the change of interview analysis outcome is improve the relationship between parents and children ¡]estrangement ¡÷ identification¡^, change of the significant others¡¦ relations¡]besides friends and parents ¡÷ increased teachers¡^. 4. On the overall life attitudes didn¡¦t have immediate or delayed effects, the main teaching results appearance in ¡§the death attitudes¡¨ and ¡§love and caring¡¨. According to the above-mentioned research, we propose concrete suggestions of the alternative school, the midway education and students that dropout from school, the impetus life education implements, to domestic relative researches and practice workers as the reference.

The aim of this qualitative study was to look at social capital formation among at-risk students in an alternative education program. Social capital has been applied to a broad range of fields to highlight the benefits that individuals, organizations and communities accrue from supportive relationships and networks. However, to date no research has looked specifically at social capital formation among at-risk students in a Canadian alternative high school. For this reason the author decided to examine the lived experiences of twelve Canadian at-risk students currently attending Sunnyside Alternative High School, with the aim of describing how social capital was fostered. The mainstream school and alternative school experiences of the students were compared based on the research questions and a conceptual framework of social capital formation. The findings of the research confirmed the importance of affective bonding social capital, as well as an inclusive learning environment at the alternative school.

No description available.

Doctor of Education / Department of Educational Leadership / Mary Devin / David C. Thompson / School districts throughout the United States have continuous concerns about how to meet the needs of high school students who are at-risk of dropping out of school. Despite multiple resources available for addressing this concern through alternative education schools and programs, there continues to be an unacceptably high number of students who do not graduate from high school. While knowledge about what is working in alternative schools and the students they serve is progressing, additional research is still needed. In Maize USD 266, Complete High School Maize is an award-winning and nationally recognized dropout prevention program that has, over a fifteen year span (1999-2014), helped reduce the dropout rate in Maize. The intent of this qualitative historical analysis was to serve two purposes. First, it delineated the historical evolution of Complete High School Maize as a model for school districts to emulate in an effort to reduce the number of high school dropouts. Secondly, this study provided historical documentation to help preserve and share in the history of the program for future generations of students. This study examined the factors and circumstances present in Maize USD 266 that resulted in the creation of an alternative school for its students. This study also narrated the structural evolution of Complete High School Maize from 1999 to 2014 and examined the conditions and factors that resulted in the progressions. The findings of the study showed that Complete High School Maize had successfully helped reduce the number of dropouts in Maize USD 266.

Because of the many shortcomings of public school education in Korea, an alternative school movement has begun to surface. Analysis of the philosophical foundations of this alternative movement reveals, however, that its programmes have thus far also been inspired by motives that have been characteristic for some time now of public schools, namely serious competition for places in higher education institutions. The purpose of this project was to, on the one hand, discover the shortcomings of current public and alternative schools in Korea, and on the other to reflect on replacing their current philosophies with a Christian approach and philosophy to schooling and education. The first step in understanding present day Korean education schooling was tracing the history and philosophy of Korean public and Christian alternative education. It emerged from this analysis that the biggest problem for Korean education is that education is knowledge-centred and intended for preparing students for entrance examinations to universities. instead of educating the whole person. The next step was to analise the history and philosophy of Australian Christian alternative schools. Christian schooling in Australia has contributed significantly to the development of a biblical understanding of' education. The Christian Parent Controlled Schools (CPCS) has for instance been emphasising parents' right of educating their children in schools of their choice and which suit their life views. Christian Community Schools (CCS), on the other hand, has put emphasis on the importance of the school a? a learning community where relationships arc more important than how they teach or even what they teach. Based on this comparative study and a study of a biblical philosophy of education, an educational philosophy for Korean Christian alternative schools could be suggested. Christian alternative schools have to teach education based on a Christian worldview and philosophy. Korean education. public as well as non-government school education, has thus far been totally dualistic in that it has tended to separate fact and \due, public realm from private. The Christian school rejects such dualisms and educates its students as complete and total persons to know this world, to live and survive in it, to practice their God-given calling of stewardship of reality, to maintain their cultural mandate, to serve God in doing so. and to love and serve their fellowmen. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Education))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007